Three Major Search Engine Ranking Factors for Every Website

Search engine optimization (SEO) experts are constantly looking analyzing how major internet search providers such as Google and Bing rank the results of search queries.

Internet search providers are extremely secretive about their algorithms; this is the type of secrecy that prompts seasoned SEO professionals at a digital advertising agency to learn about the ranking factors that search engine providers program into their algorithms.

Here are three of the most significant SEO ranking factors for websites these days:

1 – Keyword Targeting

Google recently introduced RankBrain, an artificial intelligence component, to augment its search algorithm. RankBrain will ostensibly learn about natural language processing (NLP) for the purpose of ranking by topic instead of ranking by keyword. Notwithstanding this NLP approach, keyword targeting is still very significant because topics will always be written using keywords. If anything, RankBrain will make content creation less rigid; for example, an article about an online marketing agency should rank the same as an article about a digital agency because those are semantically similar terms.

2 – Mobile-Friendly Websites

In 2015, Google took the unusual step of actually announcing an algorithm update prior to its application. The Mobile Search Update specifically rewarded mobile-friendly websites with higher placement on the search engine results page (SERP) for queries coming from smartphones and tablets.

3 – Page Loading Speed

One of the best pieces of advice a digital ad agency can give to its clients is to improve website speed by means of proper HTML coding and adequate hosting. Google made page load times a ranking factor in 2010, and this is something it continues to recommend as a best SEO practice.


Sticky Web Media is a digital agency offering advanced marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes. Learn more at Stick Web Media.

Keyword Research Suggestions

Article written by : Internet Marketing Showtime

Google algorithms dominate the search engine optimization (SEO) industry. Every time Google roll out a new update, many online businesses as well as those who rely on the Internet for business opportunities including SEOs scramble to incorporate changes to their effort. This cycle needs to be broken in order to achieve business success.

Here is one strategy you can implement to get ahead of Google; rely less on keyword search. It’s a tall order but you can do it. Many of us emphasize on keyword search. Most of the data and research available also based on keyword search. Reliance on keyword search consumes too much of valuable time of SEOs and become harder every day since Google control keyword data. Instead of trying to master Google keyword process, why not develop your own keyword set? After all you are the best expert in your field of business and you have a ready vocabulary that explains your business better than anybody. You can start to build content around these. Once you develop your own set of keywords back test your data against available resources. This will help you to break the reliance on Google keyword search.

When looking for keywords and using keyword research tools, you will find the most searched keywords are also the ones that are the most competitive.  If you have a new site or very few links, there is no way you would rank for competitive keywords. Instead, focus on long tail keywords that get less traffic and are less competitive.

Top 5 SEO Tool Recommendations

Article provided by Pierre Zarokian from Submit Express.
Here are my top 5 SEO tool recommendations.
1) Majestic – This tool allows to check the number of backlinks and the details about them. There are several other available tools out there such as MOZ and ahrefs, but I like this better as it seems to have bigger database than all competitors.
2) Advanced Web Ranking – This is a ranking checker. I like this tool because it is cloud based. When I was choosing this, I looked at several competitors and I like this the best due to different formats of reports it offers. I specifically like the fact that one of the report views offers competing website reports, which if you do reputation management it can be configured to show results for positive and negative sites on one page with color codes.  If you run an agency, this is also great as you can give your customers direct access to only their own websites.
3) Link Research Tools – This is a great tool to use to find low quality backlinks that may be penalizing your website and to create a disavow file for Google. LinkDetox is a subset of this tool and is also available standalone. This tool can be pretty pricey. Link research Tools starts at $169/month and Link Detox starts at $95/month.  If you need to run only a few reports, I have seen a few people selling audits using this tool for $5 to $15 on fiverr.
4) Google Keyword Planner – There are several keyword tools out there, but I like to use the Google tool direct for keyword research and it has probably the most reliable info.
5) Keyword Spy – This is a neat tool that let’s you see what keywords your competitor is using or you can also type keywords to see what they estimated search volume is and the going Google Adwords PPC bids are for top clicks. The fee version will give you limited info, but if you want more data, you will need to buy a subscription.
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This article was provided by Pierre Zarokian SEO of Submit Express.  Submit Express has been around since 1998 and offers SEO Services,  Reputation Management, Local SEO and Email Advertising Services.  Visit their site to find out more.

Traits to Look For In A SEO

Article Written by : Leader SEO

While the concept of using and SEO is all well and dandy, there are some serious negative consequences to consider before heading down that path. For example, an SEO can give your website or pages a fake feeling to them. With this, you may receive increased hits or traffic, but it will all be ‘bad traffic’, or traffic that truly has no interest in the products or services you are selling and representing. An irresponsible SEO will not be willing to go the extra mile to ensure that negatives do not outweigh the positives in your venture, so finding and paying for a great and reputable SEO is absolutely necessary!

The ways in which an SEO may help though are rather numerous. First off, they have the ability to review your site’s content and structure; helping you to find ways to optimize and streamline your work to make it more efficient and easier for search engines to use. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, the technical assistance that should be able to provide on hosting, redirecting, backlinks, and JavaScript is what truly makes an SEO great. Without these tools, they are simply doing something that many site owners could do on their own time; a little spring cleaning. Therefore if an SEO is advertising his or her skills only with regards to keyword research or a specific background in a targeted demographic, be wary! These are things that just about anyone and everyone can dig up, so ask questions and be thorough when hiring these people.

Moz a site with best SEO tools

Moz.com (formerly SEOMoz) is a software development company and an online service specializing in search engine optimization (SEO).  Founded in 2004 it earned an annual income of $1.4 million.  However, at the end of 2011, it earned whopping $11.4 million in revenue.  Some of the tools are free with limited datasets; however, there are three different professional in depth and detail reports, Moz Pro for purchase.  Moz Pro shower its members with perks including discount on other related services including A/B testing platforms, social media tools and industry conference tickets.

The site is friendly and provides many attractive reports.  Some users have raved the site as one of the best for keyword search, link building and site analysis.  Moz provides a series of tools including Moz Term Extractor that shows the importance of words or phrases; Moztrust which compares trustworthiness of the Website to others; MozRank, an alternative to Google PageRank; a tool to compare relevance of a page with other similar samplings; YOUMoz, a tool to research popular search trends; and SEO Toolbar that audit SEOs.  The graphics and layout make it easier to drop screen grabs into any report helping novices to the technology.  This makes the site friendlier to those who like attractive reports.

Moz also has a few version of their tool called Open Site Explorer. It will allow you to do a few searches a day for free!

Why Long Tail Keywords Will Work For Your Website

Article Provided by Pierre Zarokian of Submit Express

Ever wondered why the simple keywords that you use to optimize content for your website have never brought about the results that you have hoped for. The truth is that many people look for these general keywords and several of your competitors would have used these keywords as well.

So what do you do if you want more traffic to your site?

The answer lies in the term “long tail keywords”.  These are specific phrases that people look for.  If you offer a product that is close to the phrase keyword, then you can be sure that the people who visit your site will certainly be interested in what you offer.

But how do you find these specific keywords?

First, put yourself in the user’s shoes. Let us say that you are looking for a product or service.  The first thing that you will do is conduct a Google search by typing in a string of four or five words that are related to a specific product or service.

Since people do this very often with Google, you can be sure that you will be able to find the keywords that are most related to your product by using SEO paid software that will help you find the most common searches.

Another great way to find keywords related to your product is to ask people what they would search for in Google if they wanted to know something about your product.  In doing a bit of research on the concept of SEO, you will definitely find better results the next time around in using these long tail keywords.

We recommend using this free keyword research tool by Submit Express, which will provide you some good keyword suggestions as well keyword traffic data.

Impact of Social Media on SEO

Article provided by iClimber.

Many of us still use search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others to find things online. However, it appears that younger generation is using more and more social networking sites to find what they need online. Fifty four percent of Americans still uses traditional search engines to find what they need online but the numbers are slowing down according to some research. Forrester Research finds that half of Internet users between the ages 18 to 23 and 43 percent of users ages 24 to 32 are using social networks to find things on the Internet. Will this trend have any impact on search engine optimization (SEO)?

Many articles are propping up on the Internet claiming that SEO is dying as a result of social media. But for many that idea is just cliché. Knowingly or not many of us are doing SEO almost all the time. If you change the title tag on your home page, if you add a blog to your Web site, if you blog every week, and if you convince a friend to write an article on your site or about your site, you are essentially doing SEO with or without your knowledge. As long as there are search engines, SEO will be there.

It is a fact that social media has a big impact on SEO now and major search engines are looking at social media activity and popularity as a factor for SEO. If you are doing SEO, but not not doing any social media activity, then it is time for you to plan and start doing that as well. My recommendation is that you post a few posts a week on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ mentioning your brand and having links to your brand.  Preferably many people should be mentioning your brand on social media, so you need to come up with compelling content so you can get retweets and shares.

Bad Yelp Review Leads to $750,000 Lawsuit

Guest post Provided by Review Mediation

Have you ever carelessly posted a Yelp review? Watch out, it could come back to bite you. For one unlucky reviewer, the bill for her scathing commentary might be $750,000 — you read that right. On Yelp, and other sites, Jane Perez typed out her dissatisfaction after Christopher Dietz did some construction work for her. Dietz in turn took her to court saying her comments amounted to defamation; the courts agreed with him and Perez had to take down specific segments of her written reviews.

Along with criticizing his work, Perez wrote that she suspected Dietz of stealing jewelry from her home. Unfortunately for her, Dietz was not one to take the importance of online reputation management lightly. Neither should you. Every day, more folks are gaining a deeper understanding of the impact their online reputation has on their lives. The First Amendment protects your right to express your opinions, but making false and malicious claims about another individual or entity may put you on the wrong side of the law.

Being measured with one’s words when speaking before the public is advised. It may hard, being used to oversharing, and all, but the consequences of not doing so may be even harder to face.
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Read More: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/12/09/166815629/bad-meal-to-yelp-or-not-to-yelp?sc=emaf

How To Work To Erase Bad Reviews Online

Article provided by Reputation Stars

Every business runs into unhappy customers, and in many instances it can only take one unhappy customer to create a very negative perception about what you offer in terms of products or services. A negative review that appears on an internet site can do a lot of trouble for you, spreading on social networks, linking in news stories, comments sections, and more. There are ways that you can help fight these negative reviews though and work to bury them so that they are not the first thing people read about when learning about your business online.

Online reputation management is extremely important for every business, and can go a long way to making those bad reviews virtually disappear. Unfortunately on a site such as Yelp, there is no delete button to get rid of a review you do not agree with. What you can do though is utilize the power of things such as link building and social networking to help grow a reputation with your online business online. There are several strategies out there, but the key to all of them is that the more proactive you are, the better off you are going to be in the short and the long run.

When you have put the work in, the results that you see for your business when you search for it on a search engine such as Google will be more than positive. The reality of it is that when you have a business, you want your reputation in the online communities out there to be as positive as possible. This will drive new customers to your business to try your products or services. This in turn is going to allow you to grow your sales and grow your business overall.
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This article was provided by Reputation Stars.  Reputation Stars provides online reputation management and reputation monitoring services. If you have negative reviews and feedback online, visit Reputation Stars website for more details on how they can help you.

4 Content Writing Tips

Article Submitted by iClimber, who provides content writing services.

Most professional writers will tell you that keeping it simple is probably the best way to go. Using big words doesn’t make you look smart but makes your reader feel stupid. That’s the only mistake that any budding writer should avoid.

So here are four tips that will work for all types of content writing:

#1: Write in short sentences

The thumb of rule is to keep it to one idea per sentence. This will make it easier for the reader to digest what you have written. Conversely, it will only cause confusion for the reader if you write longer sentences.

#2: Write in the ‘active voice’

To put it crudely: writing in the passive voice can come across as boring to the reader. The active voice involves writing in this sequence: subject-verb-object. The reverse, as you might have figured by now, is writing in the passive voice, and what you use sparingly.

#3: Maintain short paragraphs

Similar to writing short sentences, when you break information in small ‘chunks’, the reader is able to understand what you are writing clearly, and with no confusion. This is usually not demonstrated in academic writing where there are several sentences in a paragraph.

Feel free to limit a paragraph to one word too.

#4: Delete ‘fluff words’

Words like rather, little and very tend to drain the life out of your sentences. The reason for this is because these words can dilute the message that you are trying to convey but most of all, can serve as a distraction.